Latest articles by Matt McCracken
Best studio monitors 2025: Studio speakers for musicians and producers on any budget
My comprehensive guide to the best studio monitor speakers for home studio recording, whether you’re a beginner or pro producer
Best in-ear monitors 2025: IEMs for stage and studio
Our expert guide to the best in-ear monitors for practice, performance and production, no matter your budget
Best budget studio monitors 2025: Make your mixes sing with these wallet-friendly home studio speakers
The best cheap studio monitors for home recording, with my hand-picked and affordable options from Adam, IK Multimedia, M-Audio, PreSonus and more
Best MIDI keyboards 2025: Find the perfect match for your studio workflow
My expert guide to the best MIDI keyboards of all sizes and budgets to integrate with your home studio
Fender just launched its Black Friday sale and I can't believe the Player II Stratocaster is this cheap - save up to 30% off a range of Squier and Fender guitars
The Fender sale has some amazing deals on guitars - here's 7 of the best for you
Best multi-effects pedals 2026: Our pick of the best all-in-one guitar FX modellers
Our guide to the best multi-effects pedals will help you get your head around amp modelling pedals and multi-FX
I’ve seen a lot of Black Friday sales, but this one’s next level - Sweetwater just dropped thousands of discounts of up to 80% off guitars, drums, keys, and more
The Black Friday guitar deals start here with one of the biggest sales of the year over at Sweetwater
The early Black Friday guitar deals don't get much better than this sale at Thomann - save up to 69% on two top-rated guitars, a Warm Audio condenser mic, a Behringer synthesizer, and loads more
Thomann’s early sale features some of the biggest savings I’ve seen this year, including some of our most highly rated gear
Best cheap acoustic guitars 2026: Top picks for strummers on a budget
Your guide to the best cheap acoustic and electro-acoustic guitars out there, with amazing value options from Martin, Taylor, Fender, and more
Best acoustic guitar strings 2026: Find your favourite acoustic strings
Our pick of the best acoustic guitar strings for your style and budget from Elixir, Ernie Ball, Martin, D'Addario, and more
Best Christmas gifts for music producers 2025: 9 affordable ideas they'll actually use
Struggling to decide what to buy the music producer in your life? Here's an in-depth guide to the best gift ideas for producers, written by producers
Waves just made the first move on Black Friday with 3 jaw-dropping offers - and one’s completely free
Grab yourself some monster discounts with these early Black Friday plugin deals over at Waves
Best PCs for music production 2025: Apple Macs and Windows machines for your home studio
Discover the power that a desktop PC or Mac can bring to your music-making, with my expert pick of the best desktops for music production
“For the majority of producers the iMac probably isn’t the right choice”: Apple iMac M4 review
An all-in-one desktop computer that's gorgeous, capable, and just a little conflicted
Best acoustic guitars 2026: Super steel string acoustics for all players and budgets
Our pick of the very best flat tops from Taylor, Martin, Gibson, Fender and loads more
Best Christmas gifts for musicians 2025: 21 affordable festive present ideas for music-makers (which they'll genuinely love)
Shopping for a drummer, guitarist, DJ, producer or content creator? Here’s some Christmas gift inspiration for the muso in your life - including last-minute ideas
Best acoustic guitar for beginners 2026: Strum your first chords with our choice of beginner acoustic guitars
Start playing today with beginner acoustics from Taylor, Fender, Epiphone, Martin and more – hand-picked by experts
Best budget laptops for music production 2025: Affordable laptops for making music
I've got the latest laptops on test that will not only enable you to make music anywhere, but do it without spending a fortune – our top picks start at just $/£300
“Its (mostly) stellar build quality sets it apart from many guitars costing twice the price”: Jet JJ-300 P90 review
Jet Guitars' thoughtfully built offset leaves a lasting impression, but it's not without compromise
Best external hard drives for music production 2025: Back up your music and boost your computer's performance
Store recording sessions, video files, and sample libraries with our expert pick of the best external hard drives for Mac and PC
Buy one $49.99 IK Multimedia plugin and get a whopping 38 free with the best plugin deal of the year so far
Plus, the more musicians register, the more free plugins everyone gets with up to 50 free plugins available
What are the best online guitar lessons in 2025? I review guitar gear for a living and these are my favourite lessons platforms
My pick of the best online guitar courses will get your playing up to speed from the comfort of your own home, whether you're a beginner, intermediate, or advanced player
With some astonishing discounts of up to $3,500 off, the Sweetwater Recording Sale is the place to pick up studio gear for less this Prime Day
If you want pro-grade recording gear for Prime Day, then this sale at Sweetwater is where it’s at
